BNS Brewing & Distilling Co

BNS is a fantastic mico-​brewery located in Santee! They have delicious beer, friendly staff (Gene the owner is awesome), great atmosphere, and great rotating food vendors! We used BNS as our beer vendor for our wedding, the keg was empty in no time! Can’t wait to go back!

Excellent beer, good service, interesting décor, clean, friendly, and they had a taco grill right outside. Just the right place to stop after a mind-​blowing visit to the Creation Museum down the street. I’ll be back!

I love this place. Only critique I have is to change the hours posted on the door. I was there last night and the hours said closed at 9. And I got there around 5:30 sat down and was told «Last call» around 6. Super bummed! I felt rushed and didn’t really enjoy my beer.

BNS is great, love the beer and the atmosphere and the staff is always nice. The outside area is awesome as well!

BNS hit the scene in a big way with their gold medals at the GABF. While Santee is far from my normal stomping grounds, after a run up Cowles Mountain and a quick Unilocal search, I realized the time was now to try BNS. I enjoyed the drive over as I passed the T-​Rex outside of the adjacent Creation Museum.
The interior of BNS is fairly spartan but has plenty of room for crowds, a bandstand for music, and a long bar. I had to try the gold medal winning Revolver IPA and came away impressed with the full bodied flavor. I followed this up with a flight of tasters and noted the impressive scotch ale. Unknown to me, BNS is canning their beers, but didn’t appear to be canning their Revolver yet.
BNS really captures the stereotypes of Santee with mounted animal heads and country décor. The best parts are the signs regarding tolerating motorcycle club insignias. It feels like you’re taking a step into Charming, CA and that Jax and Chibs are going to take the stool next to you.

Great beer spot in east county! I’m a big fan of their Lawmaker IPA. Rad atmosphere with easy parking and rotating taco trucks. Definitely a go to spot when I’m thirsty!

I love that this place is out in east Santee. It’s a great location with lots of parking, the atmosphere is super inviting and the staff are friendly as can be. They have an awesome selection of beers with prices you can’t beat.
I truly love that they have live music playing all the time and also they have food trucks that setup in the parking lot.
If you’re looking for a fun time and you want to stick close to home, find this hidden gem by the drive-​in.

Their staff is going to be the downfall of thia place. Instead of serving people at the bar, the bartenders are too busy pouring drinks for themselves and bullshitting with their friends. This place used to be great but it is getting too big for its britches. If you feel like sitting at a bar and being ignored, this is the place to be. So disappointed in what its become…

Good beer. Band was playing the night we were there but it was way too loud. Could barely order our beers without screaming at the bartender. The outside is cool though. Good atmosphere and cool set up.

Great local spot to hang and listen to live music! Happy they let dogs here! Great beer! The bartenders are great!

Surprising hidden gem located in Santee.
Huge variety of brews: sour saison, jalapeño pale ale, imperial porter, etc. Quality of the beer was top notch. Cool facility — I secretly love the «ice bar» that runs the length of the bar and keeps your beer cold!
Bonus: I learned that BNS stands for BEERS ‘N SUDS.
Great San Diego County brewery!

Nothing special here. Last time I checked growlers were fairly expensive to get filled. $ 5 pints for most beers, served in Mason jars. I can appreciate the Lynard Skynard and classic rock soundtrack. Beats the other crap on the radio today. They do have cornhole and other games you can play for free. Beer is ok. They usually have food trucks or an outside food company.
I’d support this business. I believe it is owned by a firefighter and a couple Navy Seals (sorry if that’s incorrect). ‘Merica.

This is a very cool place — it’s got a cool vibe & great outdoor patio. The beers we tried were great & we lived the use of jars as glasses. There was a live band playing a wide variety of music & they were great.
The only thing I didn’t love is that there’s no place reserved for smoking on the patio, but not being from here, I’m not sure if that’s a local law or what. Overall, we loved it.

Dog friendly patio!
Worth checking out BNS Brewing, Really loved the atmosphere, friendly service, very fun western/​outlaw theme carried throughout and of course some good beer.
We happened upon this little gem on a Saturday when they had a live band and a taco food truck. Our quick stop in easily melted away into a long night of enjoyment.
We’ll be back!

Things I said while on my visit to BNS:
This is good beer.
I’d totally come here all the time, if I lived out here.
Huh. Next to the drive in, I wonder if I can bring their beer over there.
Gatling Gun is $ 38 for a growler!?! Holy Mackerel!
I really enjoy BNS, though I think that price for a growler (no matter how special) is a little crazy. I’m also not the beer drinker that will wait in line for something like Pliney, so take that statement as you will. Gatling Gun is quite tasty, that’s for sure.
I’d be way more amped on BNS if it didn’t require me to drive out to Santee. I know, I know, it’s not even that far! I just hate driving (actually I hate the whining that a certain someone does when driving anything more than 10 minutes away on a weekend) so it seems really far. There’s always someone that lives out there or wants to head out there, though, so I’ll be back for another beer when the time comes.

A decent brewery in east county but not in any SD top 10 list. Been here twice now and plan to go back. Wide variety of beers. My girlfriend’s and my favorite is the Prospector (red ale). The tasters and pints are well priced. Specifically a flight is 5 for $ 5.
Pros: average beer, almost always have a food truck, good bartenders, outdoor patio seating, cheap
Cons: stools are uncomfortable (inside), the fluorescent lighting hurts your eyes and doesn’t suit the theme/​décor

BNS is a cowboy western themed brewery serving up tasty suds in a family friendly atmosphere. None of the beers truly stood out but they were all drinkable and had cool names like Flintlock.
The place feels a bit more like a bar than a brewery though — for example the pretty, dolled up servers feel like bartenders (quick and efficient at pulling pints) and not like part of the brew team (able to explain the hops used, the difference between their ales, etc.).
They have a small play room for kids and a great outdoor seating area. Worth a stop on a circuit of the area but not its not the highlight.

The hubs and I went to BNS Brewing on Valentine’s day, and we are in love!
Rolling into the parking lot at 11:40 (didn’t realize they open at noon!), we set up shop outside at one of the adorable picnic tables. They have a FABULOUS outdoor space here — lots of picnic tables with umbrellas, corn hole, a cute water feature. We were already impressed and we didn’t even have a brew in our hands yet!
When they opened the doors promptly at noon, we were very surprised — super airy tasting room, very cool décor, lots of fun indoors too! Lots of personalized touches (their tasting cups are baby maison jars– I mean adorbs!).
On to the brew — one word for you: YUM. The beers were great! We tried 5 tasters each (we had a Groupon but I believe the tasters are 5 for $ 5– which is a steal!). I had the blonde, saison, their normal red, a new red just for VDay (it was like a chocolate red– really yummy!), and another special chocolate coconut stout they had for VDay. I would get every one of them again.
All in all– we highly recommend getting in the car and driving out to Santee for some BNS brew. You won’t be disappointed!

An abbreviated summary from our quick visit to BNS:
— Saloon theme. Bang bang beer names.
— Neat copper strip along the bar that literally keeps the bottom of your glass cool.
— Live music
— Rotating food offerings
The climate may get hotter than a blacksmith’s forge towards East County, but it’s comfortably cool inside BNS, and so are the beers. I’ll be back sometime to knock back a few more crafty beverages.

This was an incredibly cute little place. I am impressed — never thought I would see a place like this in Santee!
The location is technically Santee, but it’s on the far end of town, just in front of the drive-​in and almost considered Lakeside (IMO). It was easy to find and located in a small business park. There isn’t tons of parking, but we didn’t have any trouble finding a space.
I like the theme of this place — Wild West. I also like that they’ve fenced in the front entrance and turned it into a patio with picnic tables, a pond and kids sand box. There was also a set of corn hole, which was fun.
Inside was nice as well. We stopped in on a Saturday night because they were having free live music (score!). Although it’s a large space, most of it is designated for brewing, which was cool to see. There are a few tables and a large bar with standing room.
I would say they offered somewhere around 10 beers. It looked to be a decent selection. I went immiediately for the «Ma Deuce,» which is their DIPA. It was pretty good and 8.6% ABV. My next beer was the Gatling Gun — an Imperial Stout coming in at 9.0%. It was drinkable and not too boozy and I really enjoyed it.
While we were there, The Sushi Bus had a stand set up and were offering sushi. It was surprisingly delicious and I am glad that I tried it.
I honestly can’t imagine what some others are talking about when they say that the beer or the mood were horrible and that the venue was uninviting — it’s pretty much the total opposite. Most tasting rooms are no frills, and I am glad that they offer a nice outdoor space (although the picnic tables were reall uncomfortable). The staff was super friendly — it’s not a bar — and the 1^st thing they told us was that they don’t have servers — which is how 99.99% of all tasting rooms are.
This was a great place to just chill, listen to some jams and enjoy a few delicious beers. Was it the best beer I’ve ever had? No, but it was also far from the worst. They seemed to offer something for everyone and it had a real neighborhood feel to it.
If you are in the area, I would suggest checking it out.